Ahead of his Octagon return this weekend at UFC 290 during International Fight Week, lightweight striker, Dan Hooker claims he was “so f*cking offended” by a recent offer to fight the faltering former interim titleholder, Tony Ferguson.
Hooker, the current number twelve ranked lightweight contender, has yet to return to action since featuring against Peruvian grappler, Claudio Puelles at UFC 281 back in November of last year Madison Square Garden – stopping the upstart with a third round body kick TKO win.
Dan Hooker fights Jalin Turner at UFC 290 this weekend
Slated to return earlier this year against the eye-catching, Jalin Turner, Hooker suffered a fractured hand ahead of the bout – forcing his withdrawal, however, meets the former in a rebooked fight this weekend at UFC 290.
Snapping a two-fight losing skid to lightweight champion, Islam Makhachev and featherweight contender, Arnold Allen with his stoppage win over Puelles, Hooker, a staple of City Kickboxing, revealed a potential bout with the veteran, Ferguson was proposed to him – one at which he duly scoffed at.
“I broke my hand and then I was getting back into training, easing back into training,” Dan Hooker told Submission Radio. “And then I think someone fought and my manager asked, ‘What about this guy?’ Like a top contender, I can’t remember who it was. But I messaged him and was like, ‘What about this guy for the next fight?’ He replied, ‘Oh, we asked for Tony Ferguson.’ I was so f*cking offended.”
“That sparked me,” Dan Hooker explained. “I was like, ‘Nah, f*ck this.’ The doctors were saying you got to wait another month for your hand before you can get back into training. I said, ‘F*ck that.’ I went and sparred the next day because I was so offended.”
Himself slated to make his comeback at UFC 291 at the end of this month, Oxnard veteran, Ferguson is booked to fight fellow lightweight stalwart, Bobby Green in Salt Lake City, Utah.